Technology is the Silver Lining on the Pandemic’s Dark Cloud

There is always a silver lining behind any dark cloud. The current Corona crisis is not an exception. Given, this pandemic will permanently change the way businesses are done across the board. The beauty about this is that it is already changing some of our behaviors and culture for the better.

The Pandemic will certainly change what we value as well as our relationships with others. This pandemic will surely bring new innovations, new thinking and new ways of doing things. How will the real estate be altered? I think technology uptake will permanently change how we do real estate.

Traditional Real Estate vs. New change (adapting the technology)

1. Self-drives to view Property
Taking people to site was a daily engagement. Now, it is all about self-drives to site. Customers moving forward, will most often be seeking Google coordinates of the property and then proceed to taking themselves to site.

2. Physical brochures and Business Cards will be edged out
It is now evident that e-brochures and e-business cards are effective, save and fast. This may become a new norm with the physical brochures and business cards going extinct. Effectively, there will be less printing, and by extension we will end up saving lots of trees since there will be no much printing on thousands of physical marketing brochures.

3. Physical Visits to Site will reduce for those not too serious about buying
Today, online 3D view of property is allowing customers to have an almost real time view of property. It now also allows customers to make decisions to move to the next level of commitment. For instance, Optiven’s Shamba Mkononi App ( https://shrts.net/a6ixO ) allows customers to view their preferred project via Google Earth tools; thus allowing them to see available plots, book site visits online, pick an available plot of their choice and pay for it online.

4. Working from offices will become archaic
We have seen that indeed it is possible for people to work and deliver from home. This has worked during the Covid-19 period. It actually works and indeed, it will surely extend moving forward, for services and work that does not require physical touch. By extension, there may be no need for way bigger office spaces since working from home has proven to be as effective.

5. Cash Payment will be an outdated mode
Online payment is the new way of paying for goods and services. The cashless economy will become an accepted standard. In turn, Governments will save massively for not printing physical money. As a real estate customer, you will not need to travel to a real estate office to deliver money or cheque eating up some more precious time, waiting for a physical receipt. An online transaction and receipting will do just fine.

6. Physical signing will not be fashionable in the near future
Electronic signatures will replace physical signing. The government just allowed electronic signatures and this will surely improve the process of property ownership. Land searches are already online, transfers are going online; things are literally going all digital.

7. Physical meetings for staff will reduce
The use of technology such as Zoom will enable virtual meetings to take place just as effectively. During this Corona crisis, this is what we are currently using. You can expect that the trend will continue, with many meetings being conducted via video conferencing as opposed to one-on-one meetings that sometime end up being time consuming.

Thoughts by

George Wachiuri: A Leading Entrepreneur, a Published Author, Philanthropist, Youth Empowerment Enthusiast, a Family man and CEO of Optiven Group

Welcome To My Blog

George Wachiuri is the CEO of Optiven Limited. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. He holds a Masters’s degree in Business Administration (University of Nairobi), and a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing option) Degree from University of Nairobi.

He is a Certified Public Accountant – CPA (K) and is a former Lecturer at Daystar University. His entrepreneurial spirit developed early, and was awarded the Entreprenuer of the year 1997 by the University of Nairobi. He has over 21 years working experience.